Supergrass's role in the Britpop revolution should not be underestimated. Their debut, I Should Coco, was the work of assured young terriers who snapped at the heels of the bloated US grunge bands and made them go away. However, despite making their "mature" album with 1997's In It for the Money, the Oxford trio have never made the convincing leap from snotty-nosed racketeers to grown-up pop band. In a bid to halt the rot, Life on Other Planets harks back to the youthful effervescence of their debut - but the energy feels laboured. A bigger problem is the obvious lack of ideas: on three tracks, they sound like a T Rex tribute band. As Gaz Coombes's muse flails around, mostly in the debris of the 1970s, occasionally they hit the spot. Grace is one of their most naggingly tuneful singles, and the supernatural revenge fantasy of Brecon Beacons has some intriguing lyrics. But the album predominately feels adrift and lightweight. Can't Get Up ("... no more") sums up their career.
2/5